Bach Perspectives: Creative Responses to Bach from Mozart to Hindemith (Vol 3) - Hardcover

Ludwig Finscher opens with a survey of Bach’s influence through several centuries, examining his sway over composers from Mozart and Beethoven to Schumann, Wagner, and Reger. Thomas Christensen shows that various of Bach’s early disciples claimed authority from their master for opposing assessments of music and musical theory. Robert L. Marshall argues that Mozart’s intense involvement with Bach’s music probably occurred much earlier in his career than has generally been thought. William Kinderman demonstrates that Beethoven’s assimilation of Bach also occurred very early in his career and that all aspects of Beethoven’s mature style are heavily indebted to Bach. Walter Frisch reveals how Brahms’s absorption in Bach’s work involves a fruitful relation to cultural tradition. Steven Hinton traces Hindemith’s evolving―yet essentially consistent―understanding of Bach’s music.

A work that subtly yet decisively traces Bach’s presence in the ongoing history of composition, this volume is an important contribution to our understanding of Bach and of his many eminent successors.